God’s guidance came to Thelma Battle Buckner in just about every way possible.
When Buckner’s husband abandoned her and their eight children, she took a job at a local factory and testified to her church that “every day the Lord makes a way.”
When her sister became too ill to care for her own eight children, Buckner took them in, setting her on a path to becoming a foster parent who would care for over 1,000 children.
And when her elder brother died, leaving their church without a pastor, Buckner tried to hire a replacement but couldn’t find anyone willing to take the job. So she laid down her belief that women shouldn’t be priests or pastors, clung to Jesus’ statement that the rocks would cry out if people did not praise him, and said, “Okay, Lord, I’ll speak whenever you want me to. I refuse to let a rock talk in my place, so I’m going to serve the Lord, hallelujah.”
Thelma Battle Buckner entered the presence of the Lord on June 11, 2021 at the age of 89. Her moments of faithfully responding to God’s guidance throughout her life likely never felt as cinematic as her whole story when threaded together. If Buckner’s life shows us anything, it’s that a legacy of faithfulness comes from daily obedience, saying yes when no would feel so much easier.
Worshiping God by following his guidance, trusting him to supply everything we need, and praising his name when he does so—that’s how Buckner kept the rocks silent, and so can we.
